Archive for October, 2008

Cement is the most widely used building material in the world and has been for thousands of years. The historical record confirms that the ancient Persians, Assyrians and Babylonians used cement in the binding and affixing of mud bricks. The Egyptians also used cement in construction. It was the Romans, however, that perfected the production of slaked cement that made many construction advances possible.

The basic materials that the ancients used to make cement were readily available, then as now. Sand, water and rocks, the basic ingredients in cement, are essentially found anywhere in the world. The first great advance in the evolution of the production of cement was the Roman invention of the pozzalana technique. The Romans found that volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius, when mixed with slaked lime; sand and water produced an amazingly versatile type of cement. It was easier to work with and delivered much greater strength than previous blends.

Many of the monuments and buildings so gloriously built by the ancient Romans, standing to this day, benefited from the perfection of pozzalana cement. Hadrians Arch, the Forum, the Roman Baths, the Appian Way, the Church of Constantine and many more edifices were strengthened utilizing this simple, but essential construction product. The proof of the utility of pozzalana cement is on display every where you look in modern Rome. Ancient walls of pozzalana cement as thick as 12 feet have been discovered at a number of Roman archeological dig sites.

Amazingly, the secret of pozzalana cement was soon lost and was not re-discovered until the 18th century, when the scientific age of discovery was in full bloom. The lost recipe for Roman cement was re-invented and continued in use until Portland cement was perfected in the 19th century. Portland cement is the gold standard product for building material to this day.

For almost 1500 years builders were limited because an ancient method of improving simple cement was lost. We know that many of the inventions of the ancient world went extinct as well. Bathing and personal hygiene became rare, directly contributing to advance of disease and the great Plague.

Running water and sanitation systems, common in ancient Rome, were lost and did not reappear until the late middle ages. Agriculture techniques, brewing spirits, military organization and strategy, road building and trade routes were lost for centuries as well.

Today we take much for granted. We assume that things will always be convenient, food prevalent, choices abounding and affordable. The lesson of history is that this is not necessarily so. Societies do recede. Knowledge can be lost. We must protect and value our freedoms, knowledge, science and creativity.

Today, in a good portion of the world, the populace lives much as the most backward ‘burgher of the Dark Ages lived. Subsistence farming is prevalent. Clean water is not available. Hygiene is unknown. Basic medical care and drugs are not to be found. These populations do not choose this bleak existence, they have simply never known anything else but the horrid grate of endless poverty, ignorance and hunger.

In other areas of the world, owing to religious or societal mores, there is no desire to live a modern lifestyle. The whole goal is to live as if the year were 908 rather than 2008. In too many instances, unfortunately and dangerously, these populations not only wish to live lives of physical deprivation but they want the rest of us to be forced to accept their hatred of modernity and be forced to share their aversion of contemporary comforts.

The inventions that the Romans perfected and left for subsequent generations were soon lost. The world went into a period of darkness. Creativity and science went into torpor. It could happen again. It could happen to us if we let down our guard and allow our advances and knowledge base to wither and decline. It will happen if some fanatics have their way and can force their ideology on peoples not appreciative of their freedoms. Freedom isn’t free and gains can easily be lost.

The world is currently fixated on the international credit crisis and the role banking has played in this debacle. We take it for granted that commerce flows quickly and accurately across borders and frontiers. A resident of Maine can purchase a tank of gas at home, or in Italy with the same credit card. The purchase will be accurately debited to their account, their credit limit will be adjusted and the merchant will receive an electronic transfer of the charge into their account almost simultaneously. This type of commerce happens many millions of times each day and we take it’s simplicity for granted.

The history of the rise of organized banking is a bit more plodding and evolves from a most unlikely source. Today our knowledge of the Knights Templar is garnered mostly from popular culture such as the Indiana Jones movies. The history of this iconic fighting force, and their evolution into the first international commercial group of the middle ages is as amazing a tale as can be told in any fictional movie or novel.

The Knights Templar was formed after the initial Christian victory in the First Crusade to take Jerusalem from the Muslims in 1099. Pilgrims from all over the Christian world wanted to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. However, travel at that time was exceedingly dangerous. The Knights Templar was first organized as a monastic order to protect the pilgrims as they traveled. They took a strict vow of poverty.

Over the next 200 years the order flourished and developed into a renowned fighting force. With their sturdy mounts, white hooded tunics displaying the Red Cross, and shiny armor, they lead the way into numerous battles against the enemies of Christendom. The vow of poverty was strictly enforced, but many royal and noble families delivered their sons to the Knights Templar to curry favor with the Papacy of the Catholic Church.

The Knights Templar enjoyed favored status with popes and archbishops from all over Europe and North Africa, for their reverence, gallantry and honesty. They were often rewarded with alms, farms, lands and livestock. Their power grew as the public recognized the special relationship they enjoyed with the clerical hierarchy of the Church.

Many pilgrimage makers came to depend on the Knights Templar to hold their valuables in safekeeping as they made the difficult journey. The order created secure safe storage facilities at strategic locations along the most used routes. They developed a type of written chit that verified that they held certain monies and valuables owned by the bearer. Upon arrival in the Holy Land, the bearer could visit a Knights Templar outpost, present their receipt and receive monies, bullion or goods in kind, the equivalent of that left behind in the order’s care.

This was the first form of bank cheque and was probably the earliest form of organized international banking. The system evolved as the Knights Templar gained vast new riches, even though they were still vowing to live a life of poverty. Previous to their development of rudimentary banking products most trade was accomplished by crude barter. They became the richest entity in the world at that time and began to suffer the increased scrutiny of their historic protectors in the Catholic Church.

By the 14th century, the church moved to disband the Knights Templar and martyred many that were captured. The order became a secretive underground society and rumors of their activities and continued existence are legend to this day. The locations of the lost gold, silver, jewels, art and religious artifacts that the Knights Templar acquired and hoarded in their many adventures is also the stuff of fables and lore. The lost Holy Grail, and all of the fabulous tales attached to this famed relic from the Last Supper, is often connected to the Knights Templar.

The commercial activity that the simple, novel creation of a system for verifying bank guarantees is actually the Knights Templar’s greatest contribution to mankind. This simple transactional device has proven far more valuable historically than their military conquests and reputation for living pious lives. It is certainly not what they are best known for. But it is an invention that has positively effected commerce and productivity to this very day.

World’s Largest Beauty Exposition to Feature ClaudiaTracie and Sloan Cosmeceuticals In International Luxury Retailer Review

Florence, KY Geoff Ficke, President of international consumer product marketing and product development house Duquesa Marketing, announced today that his firm has had two clients selected to participate in the prestigious Trend Scout Retailer Review Program at the upcoming Cosmoprof, Bologna.

“We are thrilled that ClaudiaTracie’s Le Bain Couture Aromatherapy and Sloan Cosmeceutical’s 3000 Year Old Mediterranean Miracle Anti-Aging Skin Care has been selected for this years Trend Scout Program”, said Geoff Ficke. “There are over 2500 international vendors vying for this recognition and the opportunity for private meetings with the world’s most exclusive luxury goods retailers. This opportunity is invaluable for our clients as they launch these exciting brands at the world’s most prestigious beauty event”.

“Retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Henri Bendel, Holt Renfrew (Canada), Harvey Nichols (London), David Jones (Australia), Selfridges (England), Le Printemps (France) and La Rinascente (Italy) are only a few of the Trend Scout participants”, said Nancy Ficke, General Manager of Duquesa Marketing. “These are the most select, discriminating retailers in the world. To be chosen for a presentation with this quality of stores is confirmation that Sloan Cosmeceuticals and ClaudiaTracie are unique, different and exciting opportunities that luxury goods merchants will enjoy carrying in their stores”.

Duquesa Marketing has over 30 years experience creating opportunities for inventors, entrepreneurs and small business in the consumer product category. The Company has extensive experience in branding, marketing, sales and distribution and funding in the United States and internationally.

Florence, KY Nancy Ficke, General Manager of international consumer product branding and development consulting firm Duquesa Marketing, announced today that her Company would launch three luxury personal care brands at next weeks Cosmoprof Bologna: Argan-E, Le Bain Couture and Griffin & Griffin.

“We have launched and displayed brands at Cosmoprof for over 25 years,” said Nancy Ficke. “But, usually only one per exposition. This year we secured three amazing opportunities and they have already been chosen for the prestigious Trend Scout Retail Program. This is unprecedented and we are excited and confident that each line has identified and addresses a real niche in their respective categories”.

Cosmoprof is the world’s largest, most comprehensive international trade show devoted exclusively to all aspects of the cosmetic industry. Duquesa Marketing has been a participant in the show since it’s inception 29 years ago.

William Shakespeare” famous quote from Hamlet, “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions”, is particularly relevant today. All of the news seems bad. The negative numbers are huge. The human devastation seems interminable. Governments everywhere seem to have lost control. Debt is perverse on a personal, corporate and governmental level. This glass seems to be mostly empty. It is not!

From the depths of disaster grow the seeds of opportunity. Much as Mother Nature’s wildfires clear overgrowth and enables fields and forests to regenerate themselves, so does the opportunity that germinates from social and financial meltdown. The removal of diseased institutions affords entrepreneurs and reformers the chance to fill an essential void.

Throughout history dynasties, dictatorships and tyrants have risen, and ultimately fallen. They are usually replaced by something much better. The violence of the French Revolution enabled Napoleon Bonaparte to turn France into a warrior state under his dictatorial rule. His “Waterloo” enabled the state to develop into a modern democratically governed republic. The Hapsburg’s in Germany, the Hohenzollern’s in Austria and the Bourbon’s in France all enjoyed the wealth, power and comforts of royal rule before being deposited on the junk heap of history.

Hitler in Germany, Hirohito in Japan and the Communist dictators of Russia all fell and were succeeded by democratic governments with a modern, more open style of governance. Their oppressive rule guided their populations disastrously to decades of war, hunger and societal despair. Something much better has acceded their brutality.

Businesses have historically expired if they did not evolve and regenerate themselves as markets progressed toward new technologies. The home delivery of ice in the first half of the 20th century was replaced by the mass marketing of refrigerators. Carts, whip, buggy and bicycle manufacturers disappeared as the automobile developed as an affordable method of conveyance. The acceptance of Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb greatly diminished the need for thousands of local candle makers.

As the automobile industry developed there were hundreds of nameplates producing niche vehicles. Names like Packard, Stutz, Essex, LaSalle, Dusenburg, Austin and Cord and most other makes of automobile grew, stagnated and died as they could not compete with newly developed tastes, technologies, economies of scale and mass manufacturing techniques pioneered by magnates such as Alfred Sloan, Henry Ford and Walter Chrysler. General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler became behemoths with vast profits, international distribution and massive marketing programs. The rest simply faded away leaving little but reminiscences.

Today “The Big Three”, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are all staring at the grim reaper. To paraphrase Shakespeare’s Hamlet quote’ “their sorrows are here, and they are here in battalions”. Every mistake that management and labor could make that would harm a commercial institution they have made, and often repeatedly so. Wrong choices in models, lack of recognition of the ultimate issue of fuel economy, boring styling, strangling union work rules and poor quality perceptions are just some of the reasons that “The Big Three” are so close to being the three, the two, or the one midgets. It appears highly unlikely that they will continue to exist as independent entities.

Much is made of the potential loss to the United States of any, or all of these iconic carmakers. And yet, automobile manufacturing in the country is booming. Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Honda, BMW, Toyota, and Nissan have all built factories here in recent decades. Volkswagon has announced that they plan to, as well. Each of these makes has targeted features, styling and benefits that they incorporate into their machines that “The Big Three” had not identified. Also, they have all built their factories in “right to work” states, where labor union influence is minimal. While paying excellent wages and providing competitive benefits, these foreign Companies are not hog tied by arcane, non-productive work rules. They do not confront legacy costs that price domestic manufacturer’s models at such high retails.

We are all being effected by a global financial conflagration. The future economic welfare of citizens, industry and governments all over the world are intertwined and will be decided by how the people who got us into this mess approach getting us out. I use the pronoun “us, because we are almost all to blame.

Home foreclosures are surging because of stupidity and greed. People today, certainly in the developed countries, crave things they do not need and can not afford. Some people should not own homes. They can not afford the maintenance, the insurance, the down payment, or the taxes that accompany homeownership. A married couple with one child and a $3500 per month income, should never have attempted to purchase a $400,000 home, with 4 bedrooms, on a sub-prime loan with nothing down. They were fools, as was the lender, the mortgage broker and the buyer of the derivative that this loan was packaged into.

Banks and insurance Companies that purchased these esoteric mortgage derivative vehicles, historically hugely profitable, are falling like flies. Northern Rock in England, ING in Holland, Indy Mac, Countrywide, Wachovia and WaMu here, are only a few of the powerhouse financial institutions that are now closed, merged or selling off assets. The insurance giant AIG has been taken over by the government. Lehman Brothers, one of the most venerable, respected investment banks was shut down by the government. Merrill Lynch has been sold to Bank of America.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been hammered for their role in precipitating the credit bubble that has lead us to this precipice. The Congress, which passed laws spurring Fannie and Freddie to make dubious loans to non-creditworthy borrowers, is looking for scapegoats. A number of our sainted Congressmen want to see “perp walks”. I agree. However, I am confident that the real “perp’s” won’t walk.

The problems seem endless and daunting. They are coming “in battalions”. Nevertheless, we will survive this, hopefully learn from it, and prosper from the opportunity to fill the gaps opened by systemic failure. The equity markets appear to offer a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to profit from the steep losses incurred because of the panic the credit debacle has induced. Strong, agile financial institutions, such as Wells Fargo and State Street, will emerge to fill the vacuum left in the wake of the disappearance of hundreds of firms.

Individuals will have to make more prudent purchasing decisions. 84 and 96 months car loans will disappear, making luxury automobiles more difficult to acquire. “Skin in the game” in the form of down payments will be required to purchase real estate, benefiting the homeowner and the lender. Credit cards will be harder to obtain and the credit limits will be lower.

Every person can use this maelstrom as an opportunity to review real needs and wants. Living beneath one’s means might even make a comeback.

Pittsburgh, PA Tiffany Fluhme, founder and President of her eponymous line Bella Jeunesse announced today the appointment of Ms. Janice Constantine to the position of VP-National Training Director.

“We are excited that Janice Constantine is joining the Bella Jeunesse team”, said Ms. Fluhme. “Training is so important, especially for product targeting juniors. They have such special skin and special needs. Janice has vast experience in the skin care and beauty areas and is an excellent teacher”.

“Next to sales, training is a crucial area that affects sell through in upscale beauty products”, said Geoff Ficke, Pres. of Duquesa Marketing, managing consultants for the Bella Jeunesse project. “Janice Constantine is a wonderful addition for the brand and will be key to the rapid growth we anticipate as we roll out domestically and internationally”.

“My background as a retailer and day spa owner, as well as my interest in teaching young ladies proper beauty, fashion and lifestyle concepts makes Bella Jeunesse an exciting opportunity for me”, said Ms. Constantine. “Geoff and Tiffany are open to new ideas and input that will be needed as we target an under served product niche”.

Tiffany Fluhme’s Bella Jeunesse will be launched in spring 2008. Initially the product range will consist of beauty product purpose built for the juniors market. Jewelry, fashion accessories and lifestyle products will follow.

Prestigious Competition Selects Top Cosmetic Products From Over 2500 International Vendors for Luxury Retail Review

San Diego, CA Patty Sloan, President of Sloan Cosmeceuticals today announced that her Company has been advised by SOGECOS, the organizers of Cosmoprof Bologna that her firm’s new anti-aging skin care product line has been chosen to participate in the exclusive Trend Scout Retail Program.

“We are thrilled to be selected from a field consisting of so many respected and revered cosmetic houses”, said Mrs. Sloan. “The opportunity to be recognized and privately reviewed by great international retailers is an opportunity that new Companies such as ours dreams about, appreciates and greatly values. The award also confirms our confidence in the unique features of our product”.

“We are thrilled for Patty Sloan and her team, they have worked so hard and have really built a regimen of anti-aging product that stands out from a cluttered field”, said Geoff Ficke, President of Duquesa Marketing, managing consultants for the Sloan Cosmeceutical project. “Cosmoprof Bologna is the World Cup, the Yankee Stadium, the Kentucky Derby of the world beauty business. To be selected as a featured Trend Scout product is a wonderful validation of Patty Sloan’s project”.

“We have been launching products at Cosmoprof Bologna for over 25 years”, said Nancy Ficke, General Manager of Duquesa Marketing. “The Sloan Cosmeceuticals range is the most advanced co-mingling of science, all natural organic elements and process we have ever helped craft. The immediacy of performance and visual benefits is amazing”.

Cosmoprof Bologna is held this year from April 11 through April 14 at the Feria in Bologna Italy. The exposition is a showcase for over 2500 beauty product vendors from all over the world and is visited by buyers form over 100 countries. The participating Trend Scout retailers are some of the world’s most select, including, Harvey Nichols, El Corte Ingles, La Rinaiscente, Holt Renfrew, Bergdorf Goodman and Selfridge.

Florence, KY Geoff Ficke, President of the international consumer product branding and product development firm Duquesa Marketing, announced today that his client Tiffany Fluhme is opening her first Bella Jeunesse retail store in Pittsburgh’s Ross Park Mall in August 2008.

“Tiffany Fluhme is a wonderful muse for young ladies interested in fashion and in developing their own style as they grow and evolve’” said Geoff Ficke. “Bella Jeunesse will be more than a store that sells cosmetics, jewelry and accessories to teen aged girls. It is a destination where these girls can learn proper fashion, lifestyle and beauty in an environment designed specifically for them”.

“The color, fixtures, music, and product assortment is being crafted with 14 to 22 years old girls in mind,” said Tiffany Fluhme. “The total purpose for Bella Jeunesse is to provide quality products that are tasteful, and that enhance young women’s sense of style and personal esteem”.

“Tiffany Fluhme is creating from scratch color cosmetics and skin treatment products that are expressly formulated for developing teen skin. She is dedicated to the concept that each young woman is beautiful and deserves “Special Products, Special Skin, Special Style,” said Nancy Ficke, General Manager of Duquesa Marketing! “Her jewelry, fashion and accessories will offer exceptional value for sophisticated pieces that girls will love to be seen wearing”.

ClaudiaTracie™ Aromatherapy Chosen From Over 2500 Participating Vendors at World’s Largest Cosmetic Exposition

Florence, KY Geoff Ficke, President of consumer product design and marketing firm Duquesa Marketing, announced today that his firm’s client Tracie Dyer LLC has been selected to participate in the Trend Select Luxury Retail Review Program at Cosmoprof Bologna 2008.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for our client’s international product launch”, said Geoff Ficke. “This is the premiere beauty show in the world, featuring over 2500 international beauty product vendors, buyers from over 100 countries and the international fashion press out in full force. The Trend Select vendors are chosen to make special one on one presentation’s to the finest luxury retailers from all over the world. ClaudiaTracie being chosen for Trend Select is a real coup for the brand”.

“Our products are elegant, visual, understated artisan crafted pieces in a world of mass market indifference”, said Tracie Dyer, President of Tracie Dyer LLC. “Our work with Duquesa Marketing has resulted in this exciting opportunity to present ourselves through Trend Select and further highlight our product’s differences, features and benefits from a sea of competitors”.

“Selection to participate in Trend Select at Cosmoprof is exceedingly difficult to achieve”, said Nancy Ficke, General Manager of Duquesa Marketing. “There are several thousand vendors submitting product, from small start-ups to multi-national cosmetic behemoths. ClaudiaTracie’s inclusion means that they will enjoy valuable face time with such important international retailers as Harvey Nichols, Bergdorf Goodman, Holt Renfrew, Le Printemps and La Rinascente”.

Duquesa Marketing creates strategies, business models, product design and development and sales distribution for consumer products. The Company has over 35 years experience launching products in the United States and Internationally.

Sloan Cosmecueticals Chosen From Over 2500 Submissions For Inclusion in International Luxury Retail Review Program

Florence, KY Geoff Ficke, President of international consumer marketing and product development firm Duquesa Marketing, announced today that his client, Sloan Cosmeceuticals, San Diego, CA, has been chosen to be a featured product at Cosmoprof Bologna in the Trend Scout Program.

“Trend Scout is an intensely competitive submission process at Cosmoprof that involves several thousand participating vendors from all over the world”, said Geoff Ficke. “To be selected as a Trend Scout participant is exciting to say the least, and a confirmation of the branding work, product benefits and unique sales proposition that has been constructed for Sloan Cosmeceuticals”.

“We are thrilled to be chosen as a featured product in Trend Scout”’ said Mrs. Patty Sloan, President of Sloan Cosmeceuticals. “We now have the opportunity to separate our product from the thousands of competitive items fighting for attention in this vital marketplace and be reviewed by the world’s most select retailers on a different basis. Our collaboration with Duquesa Marketing has enabled us to create this unique opportunity”.

“Cosmoprof in Bologna Italy is the World Series of the beauty and cosmetic world”’ said Nancy Ficke, General Manager of Duquesa Marketing. “We participate with clients almost every year as this is the best possible place to present product to key decision makers from all over the world. The inclusion of Sloan Cosmeceuticals in Trend Scout is a great opportunity for all of us”.

Duquesa Marketing specializes in consumer product marketing, sales, product development and branding. The Company has over 30 years experience in the United States and internationally.